Evaluating the National Geographic Life Series and the New Headway Plus

The Foundation Department of Oman Dental College undertook the activity of evaluating two
course books - the National Geographic Life series and the Oxford University Press - New
Headway Plus, for the academic year 2018-19. The exercise was undertaken essentially to fully
understand a book’s content and style, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, so that the
book can be adapted to suit factors such as learning outcomes, student needs and teaching
methodologies.

The two course books were analyzed adopting certain criteria based on the evaluative checklist
developed by Mukundan, J. and Nimehchisalem, V. (2012). 


I. General attributes National Geographic (NG) Oxford University Press

Life series New Headway Plus

The book in relation to syllabus The book matches the The book matches the
and curriculum specifications of the syllabus. specifications of the
syllabus.

Methodology The topics and activities are The methodology uses

refreshingly new and varied,
using a global lens which will
be interesting to both
students and teachers alike.
Activities in the book work
well with the methodologies.
proven traditional
approaches incorporating
recently researched and
developed ones. However,
the topics and activities are
less global.

Suitability to learners The book is compatible to the The book is compatible to

age, needs and interests of the age and needs of the
the learners. learners but might not be as
interesting as the NG Life
series, in comparison.

Physical and utilitarian attributes The layout of the book is very The layout of the book is
attractive and well laid out. not as attractive as that of
The images in the book are NG Life series.
vibrant and visually
appealing.

Efficient outlay of supplementary There are videos and DVDs DVDs are available with the
materials which will enhance teaching books.
and learning. Extra on-line
resources are also available.

II. Learning –teaching content

Listening and Reading
The readings are well graded The skills are integrated and
and are relatable to the balanced with a mix of
students as the topics cover accuracy and fluency-based
current global affairs and activities. Reading and
real-life situations. The listening texts come from
authentic listening and authentic sources that have
reading texts offer a variety been adapted to suit the
of task formats, each catering appropriate level.
to different learners
enhancing language
acquisition and production,
and giving an opportunity for
personalizing structures. It
fits the framework for
language learning and can be
mapped to the CEFR
parameters.

Speaking There is a wide variety of There is a focus on aspects

practice tasks and activities, of spoken everyday English.
which helps initiate
meaningful communication.
Speaking tests are included in
the unit tests at the end of
every unit.

Writing The writing tasks are Writing tasks are integrated

interesting with achievable into the course book but
goals and with sufficient some of the topics have not
scaffolding. The topics are been updated.
situated in real life scenarios.

Vocabulary The vocabulary section has a There is a good distribution

wide range and an eclectic of vocabulary load across
approach using research of units.
academic words for these
levels. There are appropriate
 lexical sets, focus on high-
frequency words, word
building exercises and
glossaries.

Grammar The spread of grammar is The grammar syllabus is

clear, achievable and clear, systematic and
contextualized. Grammar is effective in promoting
introduced explicitly and students' grammatical
reworked incidentally knowledge.
throughout the book.

Exercises There are exercises at the The extra exercises are

end of each unit for the short and not as
students and the teacher's comprehensive as NG Life.
book includes a test for each
unit testing all skills.

Learning Skills There is a section of the This component is missing

learning skills syllabus which in the book.
is comprehensively
embedded within the
Workbook, for e.g. using a
dictionary, recording and
recalling new vocabulary,
planning study time,
assessing own progress and
reflective thinking.

Critical Thinking The graded critical thinking This component is missing

section covers areas like in the book.
reading between the lines,
differentiating fact and
opinion, evaluating reliability
of source material, assessing
the relevance of information
and strength of arguments,
techniques of persuasion,
weighing ideas, etc.
developing real
understanding as opposed to
reading comprehension. This
is a valuable skill for students
 of English for academic
purposes.

IELTS tests There are IELTS practice tests This component is missing
included in the workbook, in the book.
which are graded for the
course, but following the test
format, allowing students to
benchmark their progress
against the course objectives.
In addition, there are
photocopiable tests for
students with a check and
review section, along with
'can-do' statements.

Through this comparison and evaluation, we can conclude that the National Geographic Life
series is a course book that should be considered for the next academic year. Life series has
more learner-centred activities that will help students enhance real communicative
competence as well facilitate their holistic development, including integrated IELTS practice.